Key West meeting videos to be kept forever

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

When Key West City Commissioner Sam Kaufman and city mayoral candidate Margaret Romero separately went to the city’s website recently to access old meeting videos, they were both surprised, then concerned to find that the videos were not there.

Romero was looking for a video of a city commission meeting back in May 2016. Kaufman was doing some homework for a resolution that was on the Sept. 5 meeting agenda and wanted to see a 2016 planning board meeting in preparation. He, too, discovered the meeting had been removed from the meeting archives on the city’s website.

Upon investigation, Romero learned that Key West City Clerk Cheri Smith was following the state guidelines that municipal meeting videos, viewed not only by people who cannot attend a specific meeting but also kept as an official record of the proceedings, could be discarded after two years. The state guideline is a recommendation, not a requirement.

Romero was particularly concerned about the removal of the videos, pointing out that the written commission meeting minutes, also available on the city’s website, are “very, very sparse” and include only how commissioners voted on the agenda items. While the state guidelines allow videos to be removed after 24 months, all the debate, discussion, planning and directions to city staff should be retained, she said.

“To get rid of all of that information and all of that background, I think, does not lead to transparency in city government. In fact, it implies something much less than transparency,” Romero told commissions during the public comment portion of a recent meeting.

Kaufman agreed and sponsored a resolution at the Oct. 2 commission meeting to keep the videos available for 10 years. But when he introduced the resolution at the meeting, he changed it to direct Smith to keep all meeting videos – which include the city commission and approximately 11 other advisory boards – in perpetuity.

“I certainly agree that keeping the videos forever is the way to go. In this day and age, with digital technology, there’s really no reason not to,” he said.

Smith said there would be no added cost to keep the videos. If there ever is an additional cost, she said she would let commissioners know.

“I’ll keep whatever you want me to keep. If you want me to keep the videos longer, I will,” Smith told the commission. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll be happy to do.”

City Attorney Sean Smith said that while Smith had followed state guidelines, he personally has kept a box of meeting CDs in his office for years because “I like to look back at things.” Commissioner Clayton Lopez pointed out that while some city advisory boards or commissions are not videotaped, those meetings are always audiotaped. In fact, city commissioners voted in 2001 to keep all meeting audio recordings in perpetuity. Meetings back then were not videotaped.

Commissioner Billy Wardlow and Mayor Craig Cates both agreed there was no reason not to keep the videos.

“It sounds like it would be a minimal cost and be covered in your budget,” Mayor Craig Cates told Smith.

Romero had advocated for the videos to be kept in perpetuity, not the 10 years Kaufman originally proposed. She was happy with the outcome, saying people can’t make fact-based decisions without records, particularly in on-going court cases.

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